The invention relates to a vane pump with at least one vane, a pump housing with a bottom and lid and a rotor rotatably mounted in the pump housing, with the at least one vane being slidingly mounted in a groove in the rotor and having at least one vane tip which protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the rotor and bears upon the inner peripheral surface of the pump housing so that the vane defines with the bottom and the lid an intake chamber and a pressure chamber to respectively interact with a radially outer inlet opening and outlet opening in the bottom and/or in the lid.
DE 10 2008 036 327 A1 discloses a vane pump having a pump housing in which a rotor is arranged. This rotor supports several vanes which bear against the inner peripheral side of the housing and divides the pump chamber into work spaces. The bottom of the pump housing has inlet and outlet openings which are swept by the vanes. ft has been shown that the inlet and outlet openings have to be spaced sufficiently far apart to prevent the rotor, in which the vanes are mounted, from extending over the openings or a part of the openings so as to cover this part. This means, however, that the openings are always spaced at a distance to the optimum intake and discharge point. The latter theoretically lies at an area where the rotor contacts the inner peripheral surface of the pump housing.